Last week, ICRC President Peter Maurer gave a speech to the United Nations General Assembly. Here is some of that and a link to the entire speech:

Like others in this room, I was in Yemen just a few weeks ago. What I saw was a stark reminder of how the pain of conflict permeates deep into communities and how webs of alliances equipped with easily available weapons complicate and prolong wars.

For many Yemenis, a normal, dignified life is impossible. Electricity and water supplies have been damaged. Hospitals have been attacked. Young boys, armed with guns, control checkpoints. People struggle to survive against poverty aggravated by war and against death from treatable chronic diseases.

Now a deadly cholera outbreak is threatening the lives of more than half a million people, actually the latest figures stand at 700,000 suspected cases this morning. So it’s by the largest numbers that have been reported since numbers have been recorded. The import restrictions and warfare in frequent violation of international humanitarian law is leading to hyper-fragility for as many as 20 million people.